Kia ora and welcome to the Otautahi Solidarity Network blog. A space for information, links and discussion. Make sure you subscribe and spread the word – the people are on the move! Email us at: otautahisolidaritynetwork @ gmail.com (note – do not include any spaces in email address)

Tag Archives: Class

It’s been all go, O.S.N can’t take all the credit, but many of the team are directly involved with the Christchurch Otautahi Occupy movement which has been leading the way.

The distinction between the two group’s rest firmly with class and our analysis of it. While Occupy claims to be for the 99% O.S.N recognise that within our community there are far more snakes, vipers and enemies of the working class than an arbitrary 1%. However the Occupy movement is offering a space for people completely new to direct action to explore their idea’s and take them closer to their natural conclusions. It is also allowing those in the previous year, who have begun to push their comfort zones, to take more of a lead role within the group.

The results of this relationship speak for themselves:

Last Saturday, November 5th, Westmeat on Blenheim Rd received the wrath of a rowdy picket who were there to highlight the battle that is being ignored by the mainstream media. Canterbury Meat Packers have been locked out for almost 3 weeks. The 111 workers and their families are being starved out unless they agree to a 20-30% pay cut; Occupy Christcurch and members of Otautahi Solidarity Network brought some much needed heat to the businesses supplied by this company.

The day before saw a small team pace the newly opened Cashel Mall. Despite a difficult crowd we came across some good folk, union delegates that hadn’t heard of the CMP issue, old activists who were grateful to see some young blood picking up the baton and to top it off a very irate Operations Manager. After telling a number of the crew he would call the police, he was told to ‘go ahead’, his bluff was roused and he stormed off with his beefed up security guard in tow. Never doubt your right to protest! We raised some attention on the situation and gathered some much needed funds for our comrades in the North.

Monday 7th November we attended a Rally in the city to condemn the demolition that is taking place in the CBD. The Heritage Trust had gathered a number of politicians and councillors to remind us of how bad it all was and that the ballot box will bring a halt to the wrecking ball. A few of us picked up on the growing sense of frustration among the crowed. Before long 100 of us split from the rally to take a message to the CERA head office, before we knew it we were in the lobby of the HSBC building shouting to bring the demolition to an end and to OCCUPY! Within minutes 30 of us were on the second floor demanding answers. It was an exciting crowd of young and old, a cross section of our community, willing to take a stand and bend the rules to get the message across.

As a result of this action, organisers of recent public rallies in the Red Zones approached members of O.S.N and Occupy – we are now in touch with them, hoping to help coordinate the biggest rally the city has seen since the initial September quake. The 19th November promises to be a massive day (more news expected shortly)
This is what it’s all about, through direct action, networking suddenly becomes a very real and urgent necessity. Various groups and individuals begin to realise there is more in common than not. Otautahi is promising to be an incredibly exciting and dynamic city to be.

Wanna keep in touch? A discussion email group has been created and we invite you to join us on it!

Simply email otautahisolidaritynetwork@gmail.com with the title “sign up” and we’ll make it happen.

We hope to have our next O.S.N meeting time and date sussed soon – keep your eyes and ears peeled 🙂